Wizard Nebula
NGC 7380 is a young open cluster of stars in the northern circumpolar constellation of Cepheus, discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1787. The surrounding emission nebulosity is known colloquially as the Wizard Nebula, which spans an angle of 25′. German-born astronomer William Herschel included his sister's discovery in his catalogue, and labelled it H VIII.77. The nebula is known as S 142 in the 1959 Sharpless catalogue (Sh2-142). It is extremely difficult to observe visually, usually requiring very dark skies and an O-III filter. The NGC 7380 complex is located at a distance of approximately 8.5 k light-years from the Sun, in the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way.
The cluster spans ~20 light-years (6 pc) with an elongated shape and an extended tail. Age estimates range from 4 to 11.9 million years. At the centre of the cluster lies DH Cephei, a close, double-lined spectroscopic binary system consisting of two massive O-type stars. This pair are the primary ionizing source for the surrounding H II region, and are driving out the surrounding gas and dust while triggering star formation in the neighbouring region. Of the variable stars that have been identified in the cluster, 14 have been identified as pre-main sequence stars while 17 are main sequence stars that are primarily B-type variables.
Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging camera: ASI 2600MM
Mount: JTW Trident P75
Guiding telescope: Takahashi FS60CB
Guiding camera: QHY 5L II M
Focal Extender / Reducer: 0.73X
Software: Sequence Generator Pro SGP (for capture) PHD 2 (guiding), Astro Pixel Processor, PixInsight.
Filters: Astrodon Ha (3nm), Astrodon OIII (3nm), Astrodon SII (3nm), Astrodon LRGB.
Accessories: Robofocus Focuser controlled by Lunatico Armadillo, ATIK EFW 3, RB Focus Gaius, RB Focus Excalibur.
Dates: 11th Jul - 20th Jul 2025
Frames: (Total)
Astrodon Ha 90 x 600"
Astrodon OIII 102 x 600"
Astrodon SII 72 x 600"
Astrodon LRGB 4 x 60 x 60" (NOT used in the image above....that is purely narrowband data).
Total integration = 48 Hours .
Center (RA, Dec): (341.872, 58.118)
Center (RA, hms): 22h 47m 29.178s
Center (Dec, dms): +58° 07' 04.934"
Size: 52 x 57.6 arcmin
Radius: 0.647 deg
Pixel scale: 1.57 arcsec/pixel
"Orientation", Up is 3.6 degrees E of N
The cluster spans ~20 light-years (6 pc) with an elongated shape and an extended tail. Age estimates range from 4 to 11.9 million years. At the centre of the cluster lies DH Cephei, a close, double-lined spectroscopic binary system consisting of two massive O-type stars. This pair are the primary ionizing source for the surrounding H II region, and are driving out the surrounding gas and dust while triggering star formation in the neighbouring region. Of the variable stars that have been identified in the cluster, 14 have been identified as pre-main sequence stars while 17 are main sequence stars that are primarily B-type variables.
Imaging telescope: Takahashi FSQ130ED
Imaging camera: ASI 2600MM
Mount: JTW Trident P75
Guiding telescope: Takahashi FS60CB
Guiding camera: QHY 5L II M
Focal Extender / Reducer: 0.73X
Software: Sequence Generator Pro SGP (for capture) PHD 2 (guiding), Astro Pixel Processor, PixInsight.
Filters: Astrodon Ha (3nm), Astrodon OIII (3nm), Astrodon SII (3nm), Astrodon LRGB.
Accessories: Robofocus Focuser controlled by Lunatico Armadillo, ATIK EFW 3, RB Focus Gaius, RB Focus Excalibur.
Dates: 11th Jul - 20th Jul 2025
Frames: (Total)
Astrodon Ha 90 x 600"
Astrodon OIII 102 x 600"
Astrodon SII 72 x 600"
Astrodon LRGB 4 x 60 x 60" (NOT used in the image above....that is purely narrowband data).
Total integration = 48 Hours .
Center (RA, Dec): (341.872, 58.118)
Center (RA, hms): 22h 47m 29.178s
Center (Dec, dms): +58° 07' 04.934"
Size: 52 x 57.6 arcmin
Radius: 0.647 deg
Pixel scale: 1.57 arcsec/pixel
"Orientation", Up is 3.6 degrees E of N
The full Image: I was unhappy with the end result - decided to work on just the Wizard Nebula above to make it a Final Image.
Sky Map & Finding Chart (Wizard Nebula)
SII, Ha & OIII in the original Full Image:
Annotated image
